‘Watkins Glen 350’ Race Chat Room

THE RACE: I LOVE NEW YORK 355 at The Glen
TRACK: Watkins Glen International
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race #22 of 36
Date: Sunday, August 6, 2017 in Watkins Glen, NY
Title Sponsor: New York State Tourism
Scheduled Green Flag (approx): 3:18 pm/et

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82 comments on “‘Watkins Glen 350’ Race Chat Room”

Yahoo sports had the Harprick story and the comments overwhelmingly said that France killed the sport with all the changes…letting Krylie win championship after missing 11 races….giving Toyota extra advantages…..the chase…the stages …etc.et. …and so forth.

“It’s really confusing to me,” Harvick said. “In my opinion Jimmie Johnson should be our most popular guy because he’s won seven championships. You look at the souvenir sheet every week and he’s (ranked) three, four, five coming off a championship year of what he sells in souvenirs. That part to me is a little bit confusing.”

There are many sports where the one who wins the most isn’t popular.

And he will soon find out how much Junior actually kept the sport popular while he was in it after he leaves it. The ratings and attendance will go right down the toilet even more and NA$CAR will probably go bankrupt, leaving Harvick’s bitter ass without a job.

He’s flat out jealous that people like him, Kryle and JJ aren’t loved by the masses for their winning.
Could it be because you three aren’t as likeable personalities and two of you are flat out GINORMOUS ASSHOLES?

And Harvick is so fucking stupid to say such contradicting things too.
Junior brings THE MOST MONEY and PUBLICITY into the sport. Hardly anything “stunting the sport”.
Something that his punk ass DOES NOT bring.

Sounds to me that he’s nothing but jealous and bitching about sour grapes because not as many like him.
He obviously doesn’t know shit about the fans as he thinks that he does.
Another typical non-southerner yankee wannbe.

I really don’t understand a lot of the Dale Jr. fans rallying behind Alex Bowman. They say that he earned it. Earned it how? By not winning a single NASCAR race in five years? Let’s be honest. It’s goes to what Dale said. Bowman’s cheap.

dudes i been reading about the drivers being kicked to ther curb for reasons of sponser dollars the older drivers like jr make the big bucks and young drivers are driving for less , so jr kurt kasey edwards kenzeth even jeff,, biffle and a few more what they dont realise is the top name drivers are who gets the big sponsers and thats s what runs the sport money next year it will be harvick johnson bouyer witch leads to more of my decition to not watch any more , less of us watch will it even cheeper to the sponsers to pay even less , may be the good drivers should go make there own racing series

His niece (Kim E.) went to my grade school, was in my class.
She brought us pictures of her family with him to show us.
Small world.
Glen is better off.
Alzheimers is hell for the victim and the care takers/family alike.

Nascar has always been a personality driven sport….unfortunately the younger drivers all seem more cookie-cutter than the tracks….I believe cup drivers taking all the wins and trophies and glory from the up and comers has contributed to this.

I thought the race was boring Sunday…look how they are trying to spin Krylie and Kez’s love tap into an epic rivalry…maybe it is how the tv covers it but I would rather see 30 to 40 cars all at once rather than 3 or 4.

Did you know Chevy is changing cars again…new model will be unveiled at MIS.No wonder no tech support this year !!!!!!

Dale Jr. explains why NASCAR drivers are about to make less money
The 14-time most popular driver says rookies are making a tenth of vets’ pay

August 5, 2017
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The driver contract market has finally course corrected itself.

That’s the claim of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who says the next generation of NASCAR stars is making considerably less than those who have contended for wins and championships over the past decade or so.

There’s a reason a previous champion like Matt Kenseth was replaced by top prospect Erik Jones, and why Alex Bowman was an easier hire than Kenseth at Hendrick Motorsports. The next generation will make less than its predecessors because sponsors simply aren’t spending the kind of money they did in the 1990s and 2000s.

“You’ve got to look at guys like myself,” Earnhardt said on Saturday at Watkins Glen. “There’s sort of been a major shift in how much drivers are getting paid. How much they’re getting obviously changed with the new agreement we had a couple of years ago. Drivers started taking more of the purse. I don’t know everybody’s contract situation, but there is a less of a base and more purse-driven.

“But one thing that’s changed is that you’ve got a lot of young guys coming in being offered and accepting contracts that are a fifth to a tenth of what veterans are getting paid. And, that’s money that can go into the team, you know?

“These sponsors aren’t giving teams the money that they used to. So, the owners and everybody’s got to take a little cut. Everybody’s got to dial it back. Everybody’s got to realize that they have to accept some of that fallback and difference. And that’s the same with the drivers’ contracts. A lot of these veteran drivers are getting paid multimillion dollars; and a lot of these guys coming in are getting a fraction of that.”

Kenseth is the best example because he’s won races and championship and yet can’t hold off the likes of Jones, Daniel Suárez, Bowman and William Byron when it comes to finding a long-term home.

Earnhardt has the answer for that too.

“Well, when you look at it, you’ve got a car, right? Say we all are sitting here with race cars and nobody to drive them,” Earnhardt said. “You’ve got a guy that you think has got a lot of talent, very young, a lot of potential. And then you’ve got a veteran who is established. But he wants three, four, five, or six times the amount of money. You’re going to go with the younger guy because it’s a better deal financially.

“So, that’s something that I think is transitioning in the sport. It took a while, but when we had our major reset when the recession hit and everything sort of changed and the value of everything changed, the trickle-down affect I think is coming down through the driver’s contract and it’s making a big difference in the decisions these owners are making. You can’t pay a driver 5 to 8 million dollars a year if you ain’t got but $10 million worth of sponsorship.

The same thing very well could happen to Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin.

“Drivers are having to sort of understand that change is coming down the pike if it hasn’t happened to them yet, it’s going to happen to them,” Earnhardt said. “And the young guys, they don’t know any better. They want to race and they’re taking whatever they can get. That’s a good change for the owners. Somewhere in a quote years ago, I do believe I admitted to being overpaid (laughter). But I wasn’t going to complain. That’s a shift that’s going to be better for the sport and get those salaries into a realistic range for how much money we have from corporate America.

“All those things have to change, you know? Drivers’ salaries included.”

I don’t know how I feel about it. On one hand, I don’t like the idea of these guys being underpaid for basically putting their lives on the line. On the other hand, he’s right about the financials. If you’ve only got so much sponsorship money, you can’t spend most of it on the driver. The more of that money that you save the more that you can spend on speed in the car. I believe that’s the biggest reason that teams like JGR and Penseke wants Cup drivers in their NXS cars. I can’t believe that the Cup drivers are asking for huge amounts to drive those NXS races, so JGR and Penseke can take all that sponsorship money from NOS Energy and Discount Tire and put it into making their cars faster.

When you factor in Cup Series transition to TRD Monopoly plus Brian France’s agenda to take NASCAR to Pay-Per-View, what difference does it make ???
Obviously, this speak to the senior drivers more than the young guns… In the not to distant future, NASCAR as we know it will be a thing of the past…
All the serious contenders will be Toyota’s supported by TRD. Traditional Chevy/Ford teams will be gone…with the exception of rogue teams running yesterday’s chassis… I still think HMS and perhaps a few others will down size in the near future….

NA$CAR started losing big by pricing themselves out of the market. They wanted waaaaay too much money from the broadcast TV networks and they were told to take a hike. The races started being off of free TV, most quit following. Most don’t pay extra to watch races on obscure expensive pay extra for cable TV. NA$CAR lost tons and tons of publicity and messed up big.

Further to the above and the recent conversation about TRD… Mr H knows Chevy is not going to step up to meet TRDs Global R&D participation… HMS can compete with Cubic Inches but cannot compete with Cubic Dollars… Brian France put NASCAR in a box and Toyota owns that box. Toyota is a foreign company with no allegiance to the USA Economy…. So, for Mr H…, why bother to re-invent NASCAR now owned and operated at a TRD Research facility
NASCAR’s tradition appeal is over ….IMO

Do you know what really pisses me off about this year? The complete lack of execution from this team. Okay, we’re behind in speed. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t finish where the car was capable of. If we’ve got a 12th place car, I’d like to at least finish 12th with it! If we’d have maximized our days this year, we’d be in the conversation over those final playoff spots. Part of it is the pit crew. Part of it is the crew chief. Part of it is the driver, too. The amount of speeding penalties this year is ridiculous.

I’ve have the same frustrations Alucard. Its why I keep making the comment about the ” Game Book “. Not saying this is Dale Jr’s strategy ” not to race hard in 2017 “, rather I think Mr H has made it known not to take chances (put him in contention) with Dale Jr and this is what we are seeing.

I honestly don’t believe we know the long term truth about Dale Jr mental status … and that breaks my hart…..

But they would have been in contention if not for these mistakes. Most of those speeding penalties came when he was running in the Top 10. I don’t think that there is any plan like the one you mentioned. I just think that they’re lacking speed on some weekends, and on the ones that do have speed, someone screws up and costs them a good finish. Hell, Junior blew up the engine twice at Pocono, complained about a loose wheel that wasn’t loose at Kansas, and spun himself out at Sonoma on Lap 5.

Yeah, Junior is not without blame for his mistakes.
Knowing what we do now aboit his brain injuries from concussions could explain his lack of focus at times. Missing pit boxes, speeding on pit road, passing cars before the restart line etc. I always assumed it was all due to the rumor that he drank excessively?

That’s true, but to me, it’s just another part of his disposition… . I’ve never seen him make mistakes like this b4, you have to admit its not the norm…. To Dale Jr I don’t see it as intentional.. it’s just happenstance, HMS has set the Game Book not to put him at risk…. He has to complete his contract is the only reason he is there now… IMO…

You’re theory makes no sense and has no merit. If they didn’t want to put him at risk, then he wouldn’t be in the car at all. Besides, you’re totally missing the point. If not for those mistakes, they would be running much farther up in the running order in a much safer spot instead of being back in the pack where he could get crashed.

I personally think that in the past that he would get tunnel vision while driving and his mind would slip from the little things. During the Letarte years, the amount of mistakes that he made were very few. He may have been at his peak as a driver during that period. I don’t know what’s going on this year. He’s been very careless.

so ive decided to kick some mojo towards the 88 team and jr , im dropping all nationwide gear , and i am starting as of today to start wearing all bud 8 gear hats and shirts maybe just maybe i can creat some good luck for michigan . im to much of a dale jr fan to not try something to help

It’s not all those on the team who really do work hard and do their best on the team.

It’s their FUCKING STUPID ASSED CREW CHIEF, THEIR FUCKING IDIOT REAR TIRE CHANGER WHO PROVIDED A PLETHORA OF LOOSE WHEELS/LUGNUTS OVER THE LAST 2 YEARS AND COST US MANY CHANCES AT WINS, THE STUPID FUCKING NEW ENGINEERS AND FUCK RICK HENDRICK TOO FOR MAKING US BACK INTO THE FUCKING TEST TEAM AGAIN!
ALSO DOUBLE FUCK THE IDIOT WHO DECIDED TO GO WITH THE RISKIER ENGINE SETUP FOR THIS RACE! AND FUCK ALL OF YOU OVER THE WALL CREW WHO LEFT US TO GO TO GIBBS! YOU FUCKING LOWLIFE POS TURDOTA SUCKING TRAITORS!

so here we are with jr at watkins glen last race at a road course for jr , and the show up with PARTS CAR , slow loose . bad sterring no handleing pos of a car , i guess they sad well lets just show up and race we know jr dont have a chance to win here so wtf , who cares , michigan is next race will go there and be better

Good Sunday Morning To All Jr Nation….. I hope Greg & Dale Jr put their heads together after practice yesterday and came up with some positive changes for the car. If the #88 car is no better then it was yesterday there really isn’t much of a reason to even make a qualifying attempt. Let’s just save the tires, wait for the bell and come out swinging. I would guess in all honesty though this will be just another frustrating Sunday for myself & all of Jr Nation.

i cant believe how shitty jrs car is , he has so many problems with that pos. he cant even go striaght in it , its almost like the shop sent him a parts car and said try this one . dale sr would have wrecked that car and said get me the back up car out .. we are going to be so pissed in the showing of jr and this race ,

I heard about his interview with the media. It sounds like he’s realized that HMS is too far behind to catch up before the end of the year. Toyota is too far ahead and Ford is starting to pull away as well. Chevrolet just doesn’t have the numbers right now. I heard that GMS Racing is planning to move to Cup next year with HMS support. HMS and Chevy need to make sure that works. The higher the number of competitive teams under your banner the better the chance of it being successful.

Yes, HMS builds them all and they are given plenty of big bucks by GM and their engineers to develop their technology. HMS is NOT lacking any sponsorship money or tech assistance from GM/Chevy and never has.

HMS doing their own R&D and building gets to keep much (not all) their own discovered tech info away from other competing Chevy teams (like RCR), whereas Turdota teams/owners do not get to keep any of that away from other competing Turdota teams. Hence why Truex is running as well as the Gibbs teams are now and the same can be said in the other two series Turdota teams.

Turdota does all of their stuff in house and the Turdota teams don’t have to bother with it at all, but the teams gain little advantage from their competing Turdota teams in developing their own team’s secrets/advantages in the building of their cars.
The big hook in the deal is that all Turdota teams all get the same Turdota help, hardware and info, no one has any more of a secret advantage in tech or hardware from one another other than their individual setup tuning that they only keep in their heads. Turdota doesn’t care which of their teams dominates, just so long as it is a Turdota doing it. So in other words, being a Turdota team makes one an equal to other against competing Turdota teams. Not a good thing in my opinion.

Plus Turdota has obviously bought NA$CAR off to look the other way on their cheating.

Teams like SHR benefited from and won championships with HMS products and support, but they didn’t get all of the info because other teams like RCR are the competition/rivals.
Ford came along and offered them more money to switch to them because RFR isn’t cutting the mustard on new R&D (other than Doug Yates and his engines) and they want SHR to be a factor in coming up with better technology like how Penske brought in fresh blood to their program and won a championship while RFR is struggling.

There are some points here that I agree with, and there are some points here that I don’t agree with.

First off, I wasn’t talking about HMS lacking sponsorship revenue. The revenue that I was talking about was the millions of dollars lost when SHR ended its alliance with HMS. That can’t be ignored.

Secondly, you can’t seriously think that I believe that all of the Toyota teams are the same. Joe Gibbs Racing and BK Racing are not the same. It’s true that they have the same engines, but JGR builds its own chassis and doesn’t like to share. Just ask Michael Waltrip. I remember him complaining about them not sharing with him. They share with Furniture Row because they have an alliance with them and supply their chassis.

Third, and this one Is just my opinion. If I’m a team owner, and Toyota comes to me and says, “We’ll give you the same engines and technical support as JGR and Furniture Row for less of the price that you’re paying now if you join us.”, I’d be pretty stupid not to take that deal. You said that you don’t think that it’s good to be the same as the other teams. I think that it is if that’s the fastest car out there. I know that I feel that way. I know that because I felt that way back in 2014 when HMS had by far the fastest cars out there every week. I loved thinking that Dale had a one in eight chance of having an excellent shot at winning the race.

I’m sure that HMS will catch up eventually. Toyota’s business model just makes their chances of finding speed first better than where HMS is right now.

I also have a question….thought the frames and chassis’s had to be absolutely uniform , thus the ridiculous inspections they go through now ? And how dumb are HMS engineers that they cannot figure out more speed and better handling on 3 out of 4 cars ?

It isn’t so much that they are dumb as it is the fact that HMS doesn’t have the surplus of revenue that it did a year ago to find speed. JGR buys its engines from TRD, so they don’t have the huge expense of having an engine program like HMS does. Add to that all the revenue and R&D coming into JGR from Furniture Row, and you’ve got the biggest reasons why HMS is behind in speed.

Exactly ….. TRD is a global enterprise on a global scale, NASCAR, Indy & F1 inclusive.. HMS and Pensky are both up against a global provider with vast R&D resources. Both Ford and Gm would have to engage to be fair…. With Brian France at the helm on NASCAR plus the recent loss of Mike Hilton, it ain’t going to happen….. IMHO

You hate to say it, but you have to give Toyota credit for being the manufacturer that puts the most time and resources into making their teams competitive. They are the only manufacturer that gives even slightest damn about the truck series. In fact, Chevrolet may be the worst at any of those things. Chevy’s like, “Yeah, Rick. You’ll have to fund your own engine program, your own chassis program and your own aero program, but go win races for us.” They used to be a lot more involved. The amount of Chevy teams that were around 10 years ago and that have either switched to another make or dissolved completely is quite frankly scary.

Bob, some of it was obviously due to the economy and bad management from the team owner. Look no further than Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Bobby Ginn Racing for examples of that. However, I believe that a big part of why some of those teams switched manufacturers is because they weren’t receiving that much technical support from Chevy. Well, at least not as much as HMS. I remember that being the reason that JGR went to Toyota. They felt that they would never be able to get out of HMS’ shadow at Chevy. It’s kind of the same thing with SHR. You also can’t ignore that they probably got a better deal to leave than they got from Chevy to stay. Another example: In 2015, when the owner of Furniture Row, Bobby Visser, said that he was thinking about switching to Toyota, he was asked why. He said because the team was receiving little to no support from Chevrolet. I just think that they were getting better deals.

Does Chevrolet supply HMS engines like TRD does to JGR? No. HMS builds the engines, builds the chassis and hangs the bodies. Chevrolet may help some, but they still depend on HMS doing most of the work.

Yes, HMS builds them all and they are given plenty of big bucks by GM and their engineers to develop their technology. HMS is NOT lacking any sponsorship money or tech assistance from GM/Chevy and never has.
HMS doing their own R&D and building gets to keep their own discovered tech info away from other competing Chevy teams (like RCR), whereas Turdota teams/owners do not get to keep that away from other competing Turdota teams. Hence why Truex is running as well as the Gibbs teams are now and the same can be said in the other two series Turdota teams.

Turdota does all of their stuff in house and the Turdota teams don’t have to bother with it at all.
But the hook in the deal is that all Turdota teams get the same help, hardware and info, no one has any more of a secret advantage in tech or hardware from one another other than their individual setup tuning that they only keep in their heads. Turdota doesn’t care which of their teams dominates, just so long as it is a Turdota doing it.

Plus Turdota has obviously bought NA$CAR off to look the other way on their cheating.

Connie, the playing field isn’t exactly even for non Turdota teams.
NA$CAR is allowing Turdota much more slack in modifications, hence their recent advantages in aero and horsepower. NA$CAR has a very long tradition of stacking the deck against certain makes at certain times because of big money influences.